Vera Samantha Dominguez, 46, of Keyes, was found guilty of felony driving under the influence of alcohol and felony driving with an alcohol content of .08 or greater following a week-long jury trial that concluded on Monday, Dec. 23.

Judge Thomas Zeff found true a prior conviction for felony gross negligence vehicular manslaughter with intoxication, a prior strike-conviction Dominguez suffered in 2003 for killing William Grice of Modesto.

Dominguez was driving her Nissan Altima at approximately 9 a.m. on Sept. 10 with her brother as the passenger when her car spun off the road in Keyes and became stuck. California Highway Patrol Officer Aaron Norseen investigated and found that Dominguez had been driving under the influence of alcohol. A breath test established Dominguez's alcohol-level to be .16 percent. On a video, Dominguez told the officer on the way to jail, "I take one little turnoff that was wrong and get stuck in the ditch and I'm tooken (sic) to jail, huh?"

Dominguez faces a maximum of six years in state prison.
Prosecuting the case was Deputy District Attorney Tony Colacito, whose position is funded through a grant by the Office of Traffic Safety.